Extraction and Fractionation of Whole Black Seed Plantain (Plantago rugelii Decne) for in-vitro Antioxidant, Antibacterial and Phytochemical Screening

This study was designed to explore new antioxidant and antimicrobial agents from the methanol whole plant crude extract and fractions of Plantago rugelii. The methanol extract and its fractions were prepared and screened for its phytochemical composition, in-vitro antioxidant potential and challenged with common pathogenic microorganisms for its antimicrobial activities using standard procedures. The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of various pharmaceutically active secondary metabolites like alkaloids, phenolic, flavonoids, carbohydrates, glycosides, sterols, etc. In the DPPH assay, the aqueous methanol fraction was found to be the most effective among all the fractions in comparison to the ascorbic acid standard. Using the zone of inhibition as inhibitory parameter, the crude methanol extract exhibited the best antibacterial activity when challenged against all the clinical isolates except Klebsiella pneumoniae. The aqueous methanol extract exhibited the best percentage fungal inhibition when compared to other fractions. The standard drugs ciprofloxacin and fluconazole exhibited a near 100% activity except with Proteus vulgaris where the crude methanol extract has a higher value.This research holds promise for the exploration of various potentially active secondary metabolites which would help in developing pharmaceuticals, especially antioxidant and antimicrobial drugs. The isolation and characterization of the exact metabolites responsible for these activities is therefore recommended

The aqueous solubility of ofloxacin in the presence of metallic cations

Ofloxacin belongs to the class of fluoroquinolones which has found widespread use in the treatment of microbial infections resistant to  other antibiotics. However, metallic cations and anti-acids have been found to adversely affect the bioavailability and antibacterial activity of ofloxacin. Many reasons have been suggested to explain the observed effects. In order to gain further understanding of how ofloxacin-metallic cation interaction affects ofloxacin availability and activity, the aqueous solubility of ofloxacin was investigated in the presence of some metallic cations spectrophometrically in this study. All the cations investigated increased the aqueous solubility of ofloxacin to varying extents. Ferrous sulphate produced the greatest increase in the solubility of ofloxacin. It was followed by ferric ammonium citrate, magnesium sulphate, aluminium hydroxide and calcium carbonate. Potassium chloride and sodium bicarbonate produced very slight increases. In all the cases, the solubility of ofloxacin increased as the amount of each metallic cation increased. The observed results can be attributed to formation of soluble ionic ofloxacin carboxylate salts and complexes of the metallic cations. The implication of such increase of the aqueous solubility of ofloxacin in the presence of metallic cations on the bioavailability and antibacterial activity of ofloxacin is discussed

Pharmacognostic evaluation of the leaves of Dissotis rotundifolia Triana (Melastomataceae)

Dissotis rotundifolia Triana (Melastomataceae), a native of tropical West Africa is known to have many uses in ethnomedicine. Establishment of pharmacognostic profile of the leaves will assist instandardization which can guarantee quality, purity and identification of samples. Evaluation of fresh, powdered and anatomical sections of the leaves was carried out to determine the macromorphological,micromorphological, chemomicroscopic, numerical and phytochemical profiles. Macroscopically, the leaf was linear in shape, with a glabrous texture, a short petiole, margin entire, apex and leaf base acutewith pinnate venation. Microscopically, stomata was anomocytic, epidermal cells were straight and polygonal with uniseriate and multiseriate covering trichomes. Chemomicroscopic characters presentincluded lignin, starch, mucilage and calcium oxalate crystals while phytochemical evaluation revealed the presence of alkaloids, cardiac glycosides and saponins. The investigations also included themoisture content, ash values as well as palisade ratio, stomata index, vein – islet and veinlet termination numbers. These findings should be suitable for inclusion in the proposed Pharmacopoeia of Nigerian medicinal plants

The physicochemical and antibacterial properties of Ciproflaxacin-Mg2* complex

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